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I'm Jenna Kutcher

I'm a girl who took a $300 Craigslist camera and turned it into a million dollar empire. I love yoga pants, mac and cheese, and working from home with my dogs in my lap. My mission? To help others own their awesome and do what they love every darn day!

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Less Work, More Life : for real

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I was speaking at a workshop along side of some incredible industry leaders. There were photographers, writers, calligraphers, graphic designers, and we were all so passionate about intentional, authentic businesses. We were pouring our experiences, our stories into these young and eager professionals and we also ugly cried a time or two. I realized that there was on red thread among all of us as we spoke about our journey from getting started to where we are now (which some would call successful.) We had hit burn out.

It sounds dramatic, maybe you’re rolling your eyes, or your thinking: “Jenna, you work from home, eat mac and cheese, take naps, and shoot weddings on the weekends, how could you possibly be burnt out.” But girlfriend, I was so there a few years back. As I listened to story after story of us, passionate business owners, lovers of our fields, and how we had pushed ourselves to the max, I questioned how we could pour into these attendees the message that they had to learn from our mistakes. I mean, we all remember our mothers telling us that “someday you’ll understand” but did we ever really listen? No, we went out and did the things we weren’t supposed to do and learned the lessons the hard way.

Running a business can get messy. You might have left a corporate job or never found one in the first place, you might be balancing a family or juggling with a 9-5 in the hopes of chasing your dreams. You are passionate and hungry and ready to do any amount of work for any amount of money because it’s your calling, but a few months down the line you realize how much time, money, and energy are necessary to run this dream business and you now see how bad you are at saying “no.” Y’all, it hit me and it hit me hard, I was stressed, exhausted, and so burnt out after a season of 30 weddings. I knew in my gut that if I wanted any sort of longevity in this industry, I had to work less and live more.

If you’re there with me, if you’ve felt that burn out, if you’ve dreamt about going back to that windowless corporate office just to escape the stress and pressure of running a business, you are not alone. And if you, sweet friend, are on the journey of chasing your dreams and you’re burning the candle from both ends and thinking that that is what it takes to be a sweet success, I want to hug you and tell you to slow down. There are things in your life you will have to sacrifice for your dream, but your life is not a sacrifice to make in order to get to where you want to go. As we enter this new year, I pray that your year will hold less work and more life. Remember the things that bring you joy outside of work, remember the friendships and relationships that make your heart happy, remember that the person sitting next to you on the couch is more important than any email or Facebook notification, and remember that you went into this position so that you could live a fuller life, not so that your life could be full of work.

How will you implement less work, more life in 2016? Comment below! Let’s start the conversation!

I'm Jenna Kutcher

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Brian Stacie Berenbrock

January 18th, 2016 at 2:18 pm

….taking control of my calendar and saying NO when I should 😉 Great post and thank you!

Jenny McQueen

January 18th, 2016 at 2:48 pm

I am going to start hiring someone else to do the things I don’t want to/shouldn’t be spending time on. We already outsource weddings, but Im going to stop editing portait sessions myself. I am also hiring a house keeper to come in a couple times a month. If I haven’t gotten ahead on my life in 3 years of full time, it’s not going to magically happen this year…unless I do something different. Getting help is hopefully the key to making room for real life!!

Intentionally planning out days to sit on the couch and do nothing but drink mimosas and binge watch on “The Good Wife” (current binge show). LoL but with all kidding aside, this year, I want to live my life INTENTIONALLY, not just feel like my life is on Autopilot.

I’m setting aside dates to try to go do something instead of living behind my computer screen. I am intentionally not talking business with my husband (also business partner) when we are having a day to ourselves. There small ways to make a big impact on how we live our everyday. Can’t wait to see what the rest of 2016 will bring.

Lauren VanMullem

January 18th, 2016 at 7:43 pm

I’m seeing a huge trend towards doing less this year, and I am fascinated by it. I have a feeling that the blog posts by self-employed creatives will reveal something amazing by this time next year. My hypothesis: Doing less will either not have a financial impact, or actually have a positive financial impact. Because, when we start saying no to the projects we can live without, we have the time and energy to say yes to the projects we love (for people willing to pay more).

Jessica Whalen

January 19th, 2016 at 7:38 pm

“There are things in your life you will have to sacrifice for your dream, but your life is not a sacrifice to make in order to get to where you want to go.” Whoa. That hit me straight in the heart. That’s exactly where I’m at/what I’m struggling with.

I’m going to make time to do things that bring me joy that aren’t work and practicing silencing the “you should be working” guilt that always lingers.

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I'm Jenna Kutcher

I'm a girl who took a $300 Craigslist camera and turned it into a million dollar empire. I love yoga pants, mac and cheese, and working from home with my dogs in my lap. My mission? To help others own their awesome and do what they love every darn day!